Convicted murderer charged with beating daughter, 7

When he heard that his daughter “was not being good,” a Houston man tied the girl’s wrists and ankles, gagged her mouth and beat her, Harris County prosecutors said.

Marcus D. Natt, 40, a convicted murder, has been charged with felony injury to a child in connection with the June 2011 case, court records show.

Investigators said that the girl’s sister called Natt to inform him that the victim, 7, had “gotten into trouble” for stealing money from her mother.

Natt picked the victim up and drove her to his northwest Houston apartment, where he “got mad and starting throwing things around,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

“The (victim) stated that (Natt) slapped her on the face, took her into a bedroom where he tied her down by her wrists and ankles, gagged her mouth, covered her eyes and whipped her with what she described as a ‘wet hot belt,’ ” the complaint states.

Natt reportedly told the girl, “If (you) ever do it again, this fist will be on your face,” according to the complaint.

The girl’s family called police when she was limping and complaining of back pain after she returned from the visit with the suspect, investigators said. She had welt marks on her back, sides and thighs, as well as marks on her wrists.

Natt, who has not been arrested in the case, has a criminal background dating to 1989 that includes convictions for assault, aggravated assault – serious body injury, reckless conduct, unlawfully carrying a weapon and murder, court records show.